It's About Time

       Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Lightning Dust walked in the front door of Twilight’s library just as it had begun to storm outside.   Twilight looked up at them, and then looked away again.

       Applejack walked over to the ropes that were holding Twilight to her chair, and began to untie them.   Rarity took down the magic bubble that encased Twilight’s magic ability.

       “It’s alright, sugarcube.   It’s all over now.”   Applejack whispered.

       “How do you expect me to believe everything’s alright?!   You just…killed Rainbow Dash for no apparent reason!   No good reason, that is!”   Twilight exclaimed in reply.

       “I assure you, it was for the best.   There’s no reason to worry.”   Rarity added.

       “For the best?   Rarity, you wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for Rainbow Dash!   It doesn’t make sense to have killed her because she’s self-centered sometimes.   She just made it evident that she set high goals for herself.   She…she was our friend!”

…

       As Twilight said that last sentence, a dim light quickly flashed over the four friends’ foreheads.   They suddenly collapsed to the floor.

       Twilight and Lightning Dust gasped.

       “Hey, what’s going on?”   Lightning asked.

       Surprised, Twilight bent down in front of Fluttershy, and tried to shake her awake.   Lightning Dust did the same thing to Pinkie Pie.

       Just when it seemed that none of them would wake up, Twilight slapped Fluttershy.   She woke up with a start, along with the other three.

…

       They sat up and rubbed their heads.

       “Ugh……   What the hay?”   Applejack groaned.

       “What are we doing at Twilight’s house?”   Fluttershy asked.

       Twilight and Lightning were genuinely confused.

       “What are you talking about?   You don’t remember walking in here not five minutes ago?”   She asked.

       Fluttershy shook her head.

       “The last thing I remember was feeding Angel before I went to bed.   And the next thing I know, I’m right here with all of you guys.”

       Pinkie Pie looked around.

       “Speaking of which, where’s Rainbow Dash?”

       Twilight face-hoofed.

       “What is wrong with you guys?   You just paid Lightning Dust to kill Rainbow Dash, remember?”

…

       The four of them gasped loudly.

       “Rainbow Dash is dead?!?!?!”   They all exclaimed simultaneously.

       Twilight sighed.

       “If this is all just some big prank to make me believe you’re innocent, it’s not working.   You’re not off the hook!”

       “I’m serious Twilight, the last thing I remember is going to bed right after finishing a big dress order.”   Rarity explained.

       “But…but…that’s impossible.   You were just here earlier telling me that you were going to kill Rainbow Dash.   How can you not remember that?”

       “I dunno.”   Applejack added.   “The last thing I remember doing was sending Applebloom to bed after she returned home late from being with her friends.   The next thing I know, I’m in your library talking about how this happened.

       “Maybe we were under some kind of spell!”   Pinkie suggested.

…

       There was a small amount of silence as the whole gang thought about the possibility of Pinkie’s suggestion.

…

       “You know Pinkie, for the first time, I think your suggestion actually makes sense.”

       “Yay!   I’m right!”   She exclaimed.

       “But we don’t know that yet.   Sure it makes sense, but we have to consider every possibility.   If you guys were really under a spell, we have to know who cast it, why they would do such a thing, why the entire town was also affected, and why Lightning Dust wasn’t affected.”   Twilight explained.

       Lightning Dust shuffled nervously.

       “Actually, I have a confession to make.   I wasn’t actually under any spell this whole time.   I actually wanted Rainbow Dash dead.”

       The five of them stared at Lightning Dust as if they were seeing her for the first time.   She shrugged awkwardly.

………………………………………….

       Meanwhile, on a nearby hill overlooking the town, Rainbow Dash stood in the pouring rain, angrily staring down at the library.

To be Continued…

Author Notes:

Short chapter, I know.   I just used this as a mechanism to totally turn this story on its axis!   Hopefully the twisted continuation of this former short story will get those likes to rise a little bit!